


Five Little Paladins

by Kit_Kat_Kitty



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura is a mom, Alternate Universe - Babies, Baby Paladins, Cute Kids, Gen, Voltron au, idk it's my first fic, shiro can't talk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2019-05-28 15:45:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15052514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kit_Kat_Kitty/pseuds/Kit_Kat_Kitty
Summary: Instead of the paladins stumbling across the Blue Lion...what if Coran found them first, and brought five little abandoned Earthlings back to the Castle of Lions, to raise into the roles of the mighty Voltron paladins? Oh, and keep from trying to nap in the Teladuv as well. Let's see!





	1. Allura, Can't We Keep Them?

“Coran…?” Allura asked hesitantly, looking at the other Altean. Coran was beaming, and in his hands were a bunch of squirming...things. “What is it you got there? I thought you were going to the space mall for parts!” she accused.

Coran nodded. “Yes Princess, but I also found these!” he exclaimed proudly.

“And those are…?”

“Paladins!” 

Allura blinked. “Those squirming bundles are not paladins,” she said flatly. Coran shook his head.

“It’s not the bundles, it’s what’s inside of them,” he corrected. He put them down, and unraveled one of them. In it...was a squirming creature with messy tufts of brown hair, and glasses too big for its face. “I found them at the space mall, they’re from Earth! Someone found them, and no one wanted them, and there were five of them, so…”

Allura kneeled down to look at them. “Just because there’s five of them doesn’t mean they’re automatically paladins!” she argued. The one in glasses blinked, revealing big, brown eyes. Allura’s heart melted a little. “They are cute though…” she mused.

Coran put his hands on hips. “Of course, they’re not paladins YET. But once they get bigger, we can train them to be paladins, and finally revive the lions!” he said excitedly. 

Allura frowned. “I...I don’t think that’s how it works…?” To be honest, she wasn’t sure. There had only been one team of paladins in existence, so it wasn’t like they had a lot to go off of. She picked up the little brown-eyed one, and started to unwrap the rest of the bundles. One by one, until she was staring at four pairs of sleepy-looking eyes. Brown, darker brown, blue, and some dark indigo color.

“Wait a tick...Coran, didn’t you say five? Where’s the fifth one?” Allura looked over at him, eyes wide. Coran blinked, counting them.

“Well...there were five when I found brought them inside…” he said weakly. Allura frowned deeply. 

“Do they have names we can call them by? Maybe that’s how we find the fifth one!” Coran thought for a moment. 

“The Unilu who found them didn’t say anything about names...let’s just call at random,” he decided. Allura frowned worriedly, but they did as told and split up throughout the castle, calling around. 

“Number five!”

“Earthling!”

“Paladin!”

“Little one!”

Finally, Allura found the fifth Earthling, clinging to a table leg and hiding from them. He looked scared, and she didn’t blame him. She knelt down, so they were closer to eye level. “Hello, little one,” she said softly. “My name is Princess Allura. What is your name?” She noted that this one seemed to be a bit older than the others. At least, he could walk.

The child frowned at her. “Shi-ro,” he said slowly, taking care to pronounce each syllable. Allura smiled. 

“Well, nice to meet you, Shiro. Let’s go back to where your friends are, and I can introduce you properly to Coran,” she offered with a smile, gently taking the child’s hand and leading him back though the castle. Shiro stumbled along after her, looking around with curious eyes. Finally, Allura found Coran back with the other Earthlings, watching all of them as if they were about to scatter right in front of him.

Shiro let go of Allura’s hand, running over to the others. One of them started crying, and Allura picked them up, softly quieting the baby. “Shiro, do you know what their names are?” Allura asked softly. Shiro nodded, and started pointing. 

“Pid, Lance, Hunk, Keef,” he listed. Allura knelt down next to him, and started pointing. 

“So, the one with the glasses is Pid-” 

“NO, not Pid,” Shiro interrupted. Allura blinked.

“But you said Pid,” she replied in confusion. 

“Pid...ge…” Shiro tried again to say the other child’s name. 

“Pidge?” Coran guessed. Shiro nodded, and Allura continued.

“Okay, then the one with short hair is Lance...the bigger one is Hunk...and the one with longer hair is Keef?” Allura finished. Once again, Shiro shook his head.

“Keef. Keet. Keeft,” Shiro was starting to get a bit frustrated when the two Alteans looked at him blankly. Why couldn’t they understand? Shiro frowned at them, and tried to think. He suddenly grinned at them, and pointed to his mouth. “Teef…” he pointed to the child, “Keef!” 

“Oh, I’ve got it!” Coran exclaimed. “Teeth...Keith!” 

Allura blinked, before laughing. “Oh, you can’t say Keith! That was very smart of you, Shiro,” she praised. “So, Pidge, Lance, Hunk, and Keith, then you’re Shiro.” Shiro nodded.

“Okay, so now we know their names. Great!” Coran cheered. Allura crossed her arms.

“Sure, we have their names...but we don’t know anything else! What do we feed them? Can Earthlings eat our food? How do we care for them? There’s two of us, and five of them! What do we do with them when they grow up? What if the lions don’t choose them, then they’re just here!” Allura was clearly starting to panic a little, and Coran frowned, reaching out and touching her shoulder comfortingly. 

“Princess, I didn’t bring them just to be paladins. They’re also young, and they need a home, someone to love them,” he said softly. Allura calmed down a bit, and Coran continued. “I’m sure they’ll be fine eating our food, Earthlings and Alteans are quite similar. Right now, let’s just focus on giving them the protection they need.” 

Allura nodded slowly, taking a deep breath. Shiro looked up at her, confused. “So...we stay here now…?” he asked shyly. Allura smiled at him.

“Yes, and you’re going to love it here. This place is called the Castle of Lions,” she explained to him. Shiro looked around, eyes wide with curiosity. 

“Alright, let’s go set up some rooms for these little Earthlings,” Coran said excitedly. Suddenly, Keith started crying, and hearing him, the others slowly joined in. Coran and Allura winced, sharing a look. “Let’s...let’s do it soon…” Coran’s voice was weak, and he and Allura rushed to start quieting the children. Shiro blinked, looking around. This castle was big...and pretty cool. The little boy decided he liked it here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! This is my first Voltron fic, so please leave advice in the comments section! Also, if you wanted to know, Shiro is about three, and the others are somewhere around or close to one, depending on who it is. :)


	2. Trouble Comes in Fives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a dash of trouble in all the baby paladins...save for Pidge and Hunk, of course.

Well...Coran was relearning pretty quickly that it took quite a lot to handle children. It had been a long time since Allura was a baby. So far, he’d deemed that Shiro was the least difficult, being the oldest. Hunk also seemed to be pretty happy-go lucky, and was a very giggly child. Pidge was very grabby, wanting to touch and hold everything she could reach. Lance was fussy, always wanting attention and love. Keith was also fussy, but in a different way. He just didn’t like being touched, or fed, or anything. Which was a bit of an issue. 

“Keith, please!” Coran tried once again to get a spoonful of food goo close to the child’s mouth. Keith screamed and kicked, and pushed it away, splattering food goo all over Coran’s mustache. “Quiznak,” he muttered. Shiro looked over from where he was poking at his own food goo.  
“I try?” he offered. Coran smiled. 

“Go ahead, Shiro. Good luck to you.” Coran passed the spoon over to Shiro, who climbed up onto the chair. 

“Look, Keef! It’s nummy!” Shiro demonstrated by taking a bite of the food goo, and forcing it down his throat. He really didn’t like the stuff...Coran and Allura hoped it would just take him some time to adjust to it. 

Keith still pouted, but stopped screaming and looked at Shiro intently. Shiro scooped up more food goo, hesitantly holding it out to Keith and pressing it against his closed mouth. “Try, Keef!” Shiro urged. Keith hesitantly opened his mouth, and Shiro shoved the spoon into it, maybe a little too harshly. However, Keith still clamped down on the spoon, swallowing the goo. This, however, created a new problem. Now he wouldn’t let go of the spoon. 

Coran walked over. “Thank you Shiro, that was helpful,” he said, taking another spoon and offering Keith more goo. “Here, little red!” Keith let go of the spoon in his mouth to accept the next one, and that’s how Coran began to feed him. Switching between the two spoons. Oh well, at least he was eating

Later, Allura was supervising naptime. All the future paladins were laid down in makeshift cribs (parts boxes with blankets in them), except for Shiro, who sat on the floor and listened to the bedtime story she was telling them. 

“...and so, the mighty King Alfor created the Voltron Lions, the mighty defenders of the universe. There were five lions in total. The agile Red Lion, the inquisitive Green Lion, the friendly Blue Lion, the strong Yellow Lion, and powerful Black Lion.” 

Shiro listened intently, eyes wide. Big lions? Woah...that was cool. Allura continued to speak of the lions and their original paladins, and eventually all of the children fell asleep to the soothing sound of her voice. Allura smiled, brushing a lock of hair out of Hunk’s face and pulling Pidge’s glasses off. She didn’t know why someone so small wore them, but Pidge seemed to like them a lot. Shiro was curled up under a blanket he’d pulled off his bed. For the time being, Allura put them all in one room, with Shiro having the bed, and the other four in the boxes. She was scared the others might roll off and get hurt.

She quietly left the room, about to shut the door...when Lance woke up and started crying, almost as if he could sense her leaving. Allura rushed to him, picking him up and taking him out of the room with her, before he woke the others. She’d noticed that once one of them started making a fuss, the others were quick to follow. She held him close, and walked around the castle. However, no matter how hard she tried, he wouldn’t quiet down. 

The only time Lance started to calm down is when Allura’s hair fell over her shoulder, and he was able to grab it. “Coran!” Allura cried, pulling her hair away from Lance for the sixth time. Lance’s tears didn’t cease.

“Trouble, Princess?” Coran called from the other room. Allura rushed in, Lance still wailing in her arms. He was able to grab her hair again, and this time she didn’t bother to pull it away. 

“Coran, no matter what I do, he won’t stop this crying! It’s only when he’s pulling on my hair!” Allura was clearly frustrated, and Coran had to smile a bit. 

“Well, what if we just give him something to hold, instead of your hair?” he offered, leading Allura out of the medbay. He was just tinkering in there, since he doubted they’d ever use it. He led Allura to the lounge, and started searching around for something he could give to Lance. Eventually, he found it. A towel.

“A dirty old rag?” Allura wasn’t very impressed, but Coran shrugged. He found a marker, and scribbled a little lion’s face onto it. He held it out in front of Lance’s eyes, and the child let go of Allura’s hair to grab it. 

“See? He likes it, don’t you little blue?” Coran cooed as Lance settled down. Allura blinked. 

“Little blue?” She questioned. “Are you...predicting which lion he’ll pilot, if he even pilots one at all?” 

Coran winked. “It’s called intuition, Princess. Look at him, he cries when he doesn’t have attention. He’s as social as the Blue Lion!” 

Allura sighed. “Fine, call it if you must. I’m going to put him back to bed,” she said, walking away. She laid Lance back in his box quietly, taking a moment to breathe a sigh of relief. It didn’t last long. Pidge was awake. She wasn’t crying, just pouting and poking her eyes repeatedly. Allura stared at her. What strange behavior…oh! Her glasses!

Allura reached over to the desk she’d put them on, carefully sliding them over Pidge’s eyes. Pidge felt them again, and gave a big grin. Allura’s heart melted a little, and she picked the baby up. “Hmm...I think that you’d be the blue paladin, instead of Lance,” she giggled to herself. 

“Bah!” 

Allura jumped, spinning around. Hunk was standing up, holding onto the edge of his box and staring at them. “Oh, hello Hunk,” the princess cooed, kneeling down and stroking his cheek. She set Pidge down, letting her sit on the bed while she picked up Hunk. Pidge flopped backwards, and Allura turned around, about to warn her not to wake Shiro, when she stilled. Where...where was Shiro?  
******

Shiro wandered into the hangar, staring up at the huge lions in awe. “Wed, Geen, Bue, Ello, Back!” he giggled, running up to the Yellow Lion. He wasn’t even big enough to see over the lion’s huge paw, and he scrambled to climb up on top of it. “Hi, Ello!” 

The Yellow Lion could sense the tiny creature on top of it’s paw, and it stayed still as not to accidentally hurt the thing. It had not been truly awake since it was hidden away from Zarkon and disconnected from its original paladin, like all the others. Shiro continued to climb around on the other lion’s paws, until he found himself staring up at the Black Lion. He hugged one of its claws, trying to shimmy up, when the strangest thing happened. Black’s mighty head lowered, and its mouth opened, allowing Shiro to climb in. Shiro’s eyes grew to the size of dinner places, and he scrambled over, about to climb in. 

“SHIRO! Where are you?!” Shiro frowned, turning to where he heard Allura’s voice. He could tell she was worried about him. The little boy looked up at Black. “I be back,” he promised, before scampering off to go find Allura again. Black resumed its usual docile position, and it was like nothing had ever happened. 

“Lua! Lua, I here!” Shiro squealed as he ran around the castle, eventually smacking into Coran’s legs. Coran jumped, looking down. 

“Oh, there you are, little black! The princess is looking for you,” he chuckled, picking Shiro up. 

“Hi, Cocan!” Shiro grinned, and Coran delivered him safely to Allura.

“Shiro, you cannot run off like that!” Allura said, exasperated. “Where did you go, anyways?” she asked.

“Lions,” Shiro replied, pointing back in the direction of the hangar. Allura frowned, taking him from Coran’s arms. 

“Shiro, let’s not go down there, okay?” Allura bounced Shiro on her hip, looking at him to make sure he understood. Shiro frowned, not liking this much. 

“Okay…” he finally succumbed. Allura opened her mouth to say something, when she heard a scream echo from the room she left Hunk and Pidge in. Another scream followed it, and coming from the opposite direction, two more after that, most likely from Lance and Keith. Allura and Coran shared a look, before they raced off in opposite directions, leaving Shiro alone on the bridge. He looked out into space, and in his young mind, made a decision. Somehow, he was going to find his way back to the lions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These chapters always seem longer when I'm typing them in Docs...chapter length is something I'll try to improve as this goes on. Also, who thinks Shiro's going to keep his promise to Allura?


	3. Adult Supervision Required

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one in which you think Hunk is a little angel until he starts attacking Pidge with food.

With the ratio of five children to two adults, it was inevitable that at least one of the little ones would be left alone at some point. Take Pidge, for example. Unlike the others, she couldn’t stand up and walk (even though Hunk, Lance, and Keith were still a bit unsteady on their legs) but that didn’t discourage her exploring. She crawled around, stopping sometimes to frustratedly push her hair out of her eyes. The castle was huge, and Pidge was easily able to get lost in the vast hallways. Not that she minded, she was exploring!

Meanwhile, Hunk, Keith, and Lance were all in the kitchen, hiding from Shiro under the table. “Guys!” Shiro called out, running into the kitchen. Lance giggled, hugging his beloved towel closer, and Keith shoved him, causing Lance to fall over and hit his head on one of the chairs. Lance shrieked, and pushed back. 

“I hear…” Shiro warned, laughing as he started to make his way back to the table. Hunk looked at the other two boys, before slipping out from under the table and going to find a new hiding spot. They were being too loud. “Keef! Lance!” Shiro cheered as he found them. “Wait, Keef, no! Mean!” Hunk watched from behind the counter as Shiro grabbed one of Keith’s legs and tugged him out from under the table. Lance stopped screaming, and instead looked at Keith smugly, causing Keith to stick his tongue out. 

Shiro let go of Keith, and stood up. “Where Hunk…?” he wondered. Hunk grinned, and snuck into one of the cabinets, pulling it shut behind him. Eventually, Shiro gave up looking in the kitchen and wandered off.

******

Pidge was starting to get a bit tired. She kept crawling around, trying to find something worth all this exploring she was doing. Eventually, she found it. Something was glowing over there! Pidge’s eyes widened, and she scrambled over to the glowing thing, staring at it for a few moments. Eventually, she decided it was safe to touch, and cautiously poked the thing. Upon nothing happening, she pulled it into her lap. It was a small grey triangle thing, and parts of it were glowing green. Pidge was extremely amused by this, and she kept poking and prodding at the thing, giggling when it blinked or moved a bit. 

Eventually, she noticed that it was broken. It was some Galran droid, leftover from some attack or something that had found its way into the castle before crashing. She frowned, poking at the exposed wiring. She tried to push it all back into the robot, and hugged it tight. That’s when Coran found her. 

“Whatcha got there, little green?” he asked, kneeling down. The reasoning behind this pick was that she wore glasses, so she must be smart. Pidge frowned, showing him the broken droid. “Oh, you found a Galran thingy, didn’t you now?” Coran picked it up, inspecting it. “Well, I’ll go get rid of this-”

He was cut off by a loud, high pitched shriek from Pidge, and she reached her arms up, wanting it back. Coran blinked. “You...you want to keep it?” 

******  
Hunk...was starting to get bored. He also couldn’t get the cabinet open from the inside. He didn’t want to start screaming and making a fuss, so he just curled into the corner and pulled his knees up to his chest. He didn’t hear anything outside...and it was really dark in this cabinet...Hunk sniffled and started to cry. He didn’t like this at all. What if Shiro had given up looking, and forgotten about him? What if everyone forgot about him, and he was going to have to stay in this tiny, dark space for the rest of his life? He was about to give in and start screaming...when the door opened. 

“I see you!” Shiro cheered, and Hunk’s watery eyes were met by Shiro’s dark brown ones. “Come out!” 

Hunk crawled out of the cabinet...and fell flat on his face on the floor, not getting up. Shiro blinked, poking him in the side. Hunk didn’t move, and Shiro panicked a bit, running out of the room. “Lua! Cocan!” He shrieked. Allura turned around, eyes wide. 

“Shiro? What’s the matter?” she asked worriedly. Shiro grabbed her hand and marched back to the kitchen, pointing at where Hunk was. 

Allura frowned, picking Hunk up. “What’s the matter, little one?” Hunk looked up, seeing Allura and burying his face in her shoulder, clinging onto her dress and not letting go. Allura chuckled. “Shiro, I think you took a bit too long to find Hunk…” 

“I sorry!” Shiro cried, his lip trembling. “I not know!” It was his fault that Hunk was upset? Shiro made a mental note to always look for Hunk first the next time they played. Allura gave a kind smile, reaching down and ruffling the older boy’s hair.  
“I’m sure it’s fine, Shiro,” she promised. “I think it’s rest time for a certain little paladin.” Allura had started to cave with the whole ‘we can raise them to be the next defenders of the universe’ thing. Hunk sniffled, and Allura took Shiro’s hand and walked out of the kitchen. 

******  
Pidge watched intently as Coran worked on the droid, putting the loose wires back where they belonged, so she didn’t get hurt. Finally, he handed the slightly glowing, but otherwise docile droid back to her. “There you are!” he said, handing it back to her. Pidge gave him a big smile, and hugged the robot tight. “Do you have a name for it?” Coran asked. After getting no reply, he blinked. “Oh, that’s right. You don’t talk, do you?” 

Back upstairs, Pidge went to go show off her new droid, crawling around and dragging it along behind her. She found Allura, and pulled on her dress, showing the droid off. Allura saw the thing, and pursed her lips. “Pidge...I don’t think that’s safe,” she warned, kneeling down and taking the droid. However, when Allura picked it up, Pidge came with it, stubbornly clinging to the robot. Allura shook it a bit, trying to get her off, but Pidge didn’t budge. Allura sighed, setting both the child and the droid down. 

Hunk stumbled out of the bedroom, rubbing his eyes. He saw Pidge’s droid, and his eyes widened. He sat down next to her, looking at it curiously, and Pidge let him poke at the glowing parts. Hunk got up and walked into the kitchen, and Pidge crawled after him, dragging the droid along with her. 

Hunk looked at Pidge, tugging on her sleeve, and pointed to a weird nozzle poking out from the wall. Pidge looked at it quizzically, trying to reach it from her sitting position. Hunk stood up on his tiptoes, grabbing it and pulling it down. It was connected to a hose, and Hunk looked into the nozzle. Pidge reached out and pulled the lever on the nozzle, and green food goo sprayed out and hit Hunk in the face. Hunk yelped, dropping the nozzle, and Pidge giggled wildly.

Hunk frowned at Pidge, grabbing the nozzle and pointing it back at her, squirting some of the goo at her. Pidge let out a small shriek, and scrambled backwards, trying to shake the goo out of her hair. Keith and Lance came by, Keith running away from Lance, when both boys stopped and stared at the scene. Hunk was squirting goo at Pidge, who was trying to get away, pulling her droid with her. “Hun!” Lance yelped, running in. Keith followed slowly, eyes wide. 

Pidge had climbed onto the table, bringing the droid with her. Lance tackled Hunk, laughing and pulling some of the food goo off the bigger boy’s shirt. Lance stuck it in his mouth, giggling. Keith climbed up next to Pidge, observing. Hunk and Lance looked at the nozzle, before picking it up with their combined strength and aiming it at the table. 

Then...it happened. Keith stumbled backwards, and pushed the droid off the table. It fell to the floor, and landed with a thud. There were a few seconds of silence...before Pidge burst into tears. The boys’ eyes widened. This wasn’t good…

Hunk dropped the nozzle and went to Pidge, and Lance went to pick up the droid. Before he could touch it, however, it suddenly floated up on its own. Lance shrieked, jumping away from it, and the droid floated back over the Pidge, hovering near her. Something about falling off the table must’ve knocked something back to where it was supposed to go, and now it was partly restored. AKA, it could follow Pidge around everywhere. 

Pidge stopped crying, seeing the droid, and reached out, hugging it closely. Lance climbed up next to her, and sat with her, holding his towel, and Hunk started to lick the goo off of his face. Keith watched the droid suspiciously. 

“What in the world went on in here?!” Allura shrieked, walking into the kitchen to see three of the four children in there covered in food goo, along with the rest of the kitchen. The kids shared looks, and Pidge and Lance hugged their comforts tighter. Allura just sighed. “Bathtime it is, I guess…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a twitter now (@Kit__Kat__Kitty) that's mostly for stuff relating to this fic, like my crappy doodles, and updates on upcoming chapters! So...follow me, I guess? I drew Shiro's 'teef, Keef' thing into a comic, if that adds any more appeal.


	4. They Speak! Well...Most of Them

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allura is beginning to grow into the role of 'helicopter tiger mom'.

So far, it was known that only Shiro could actually talk, though there were some rough patches in his vocabulary. Lance had managed to say Hunk’s name, but that’s about it. The rest was just gargles and laughter and random sounds. Pidge didn’t vocalize at all, unless she was laughing or screaming. So whenever Coran and Allura caught one of the younger four about to say an actual word, it was an exciting moment. 

Lance was the first. He’d follow Hunk around, chanting “Hun, Hun, Hun!” over and over. Hunk was seemingly inspired by Lance, but Lance’s name was too hard for him to pronounce. He was sitting at the table for dinner, and when Coran served him, he spoke his first actual words. 

“Goo! Nummy!” Allura gasped, getting up and wrapping her arms around him. 

“Wonderful, Hunk,” she cooed. Lance pouted, wanting some of Allura’s attention for himself. 

“ME!” Lance shrieked, hitting the table with his hands. Allura blinked, looking over at him. 

“You what…?” she asked. Lance wrapped his arms around himself, and Allura laughed. 

“You would like a hug?” Lance nodded, and Allura wrapped one arm around him as well, before going back to her own seat. Keith looked over at Pidge, who was accepting bite after bite from Coran. She was the only one who was actually unable to feed herself. Keith was just stubborn, and still needed to be fed the the ‘two spoons’ technique. Shiro usually did that after he finished his own food, so Coran could feed Pidge and Allura could focus on the other boys. 

“Keef, you say goo?” Shiro asked curiously, holding the spoon just out of his reach. Keith frowned, reaching for it, and Shiro pulled it further away. “Say goo!” he urged, wanting Keith to talk too. He looked over at Pidge. “Pid, you say goo?” He turned around, looking across the table. Pidge ignored him and continued to eat, her droid hovering around over her head.

Keith suddenly shrieked, and Shiro jumped, remembering he was supposed to be feeding the younger boy. He pushed one spoon into Keith’s mouth, and pulled the other one out, continuing to alternate. He wondered who was going to talk first. He secretly hoped it was Keith, then Shiro could talk to him instead of listening to his screaming.

******  
“Hello, Pidge!” Allura said cheerfully as she walked into the room. Pidge was sitting on the floor, playing with her droid. She looked up at Allura, waving, but staying silent. Allura was starting to worry about Pidge. She’d laugh when she was tickled, and scream when she was upset, but there was no baby gargle and jargon like the others. She didn’t actually speak at all. “Hey Pidge, who’s that?” she asked, pointing above the little girl’s head. Pidge reached for the droid, holding it so that Allura could see what was scribbled on the bottom of it it. Rover.

“Oh...you can write?” Allura asked, clearly impressed. Pidge looked at her with a slightly questioning expression, and the princess shrugged. Maybe Coran wrote it for her. But then, that implied that Pidge could speak words. Allura decided she wanted to investigate.

“Hey, Coran?” Allura walked into the room, tucking her hair behind her ear. Lance was also balanced on her hip, clutching his towel and sleepily looking around at everything. 

“Princess, little Blue? What can I do for you?” Coran’s head popped out from a stack of boxes, his face covered in smudges of grease and oil. 

“I was wondering about Pidge, and that droid of hers. Did you write the name on the bottom of it? Rover?” Coran frowned at the question, crossing his arms.

“No, not that I can remember!” he said cheerfully. Allura’s eyebrows scrunched together. So...Pidge could write? Or Shiro did it, but she wasn’t that confident in his writing ability either. 

“Well, thanks Coran,” Allura said as she walked out, Lance still snugly in her arms. She went to go find Shiro, not bothering trying to put Lance down. He’d just scream. Lance was an extremely social, cuddly, and dependent kid. 

“Shiro!” she called, wandering through the halls. She found the boy carefully stacking cups in the kitchen. He had a tower bigger than he was, and was using a chair to stack more. Allura had to smile at this. “Shiro, you know Pidge’s droid, right?” she asked. Shiro looked over at her. 

“Rover?” he was careful and slow, making sure to pronounce each syllable right. This was a new thing with him, and it may or may not be related to Allura and Coran jokingly saying ‘Keef, teef’ within his earshot. 

Allura’s eyes widened. “Yes, Rover! Did you write that on there?” she asked curiously. Shiro nodded, and Allura smiled. “Did Pidge tell you that name?” she followed up. Shiro shook his head no, and Allura stared at him in confusion.

“Pid- Pidge do not talk.” Shiro said carefully. 

Allura blinked. “So you named it?” she asked. Once again, Shiro shook his head no. 

“I said n-names...she liked Rover…” Shiro stumbled a bit, but otherwise said it perfectly, distracting Allura for a few moments. 

“Oh, Shiro, that was wonderful!” she cooed. “You’re getting so much better!” Shiro gave a small smile at this, happy to be recognized. Once again, Lance scowled at someone else getting attention. Allura had her answer, though. No, Pidge could not write or talk. She sighed. Well, Keith hadn’t talked yet either, and Pidge was easily the littlest out of the five. It would probably just take more time for her...at least, that’s what Allura was hoping. 

******  
The kids were playing in the lounge when it happened. “Tickle, tickle!” Shiro giggled, poking Keith’s sides to mess with the younger boy. Keith squirmed, shrieking with laughter, while the others looked on with wide eyes. Lance was giggling as well, sometimes reaching up to help Shiro. Hunk was poking Pidge’s shoulder, unsuccessfully trying to get a reaction out of her.

“SUT UP!” 

Everyone stilled, wincing at the loud noise. They looked at Keith, whose face was red with anger at being tickled so much. “SUT UP, SHOE!” Keith screamed again, taking the opportunity of everyone’s silence to slap Shiro’s and Lance’s hands off of him. 

Coran had run in, hearing the commotion, Allura not too far behind. Shiro, Lance, and Hunk stared up at the adults, with a mixture of guilt and shock on their faces. Pidge was trying to poke Keith from behind, and Keith was scowling. 

“What was that scream…?” Allura asked, eyes wide. Hunk and Lance both pointed at Keith, who stuck his tongue out at them. 

“Little Red sure does have some lungs!” Coran joked, chuckling. Allura didn’t comment on the ‘little Red’ thing, instead staring at Keith. Even when he cried or screamed, it was never that loud…

“Yes...he sure does…” she said weakly. Based on past experience, she expected him to be even more of a handful now. Suddenly, Pidge shrieked, and everyone turned around to see her finger in Keith’s mouth. She’d tried to poke his nose...and he bit her. Allura groaned. Her theory was already confirmed...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long...oh well, at least it's out now. Follow my twitter (@Kit__Kat__Kitty) to get art based off the story, and some other stuff too!


	5. The Space Mall (Part One)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I had a lot more ideas for this than I thought, so...yeah. Two parts. The paladins return to where they came from...the space mall! In her defense, Allura did give them very clear rules...

“Hey, Princess! You know what we’re close too?” Coran asked from his spot at the bridge. Allura looked over at him, Shiro also turning to listen. 

“What is it, Coran?” Allura asked.

“The space mall! Let’s take the paladins there!” Coran replied enthusiastically. Shiro looked between them curiously. Space...mall? What was that? It sounded exciting! 

“I wanna go!” he chipped in. By now, Lance, Keith, and Hunk were all walking around and babbling enough to communicate. Pidge was still silent, and a bit shaky on her feet, but her personality was loud enough that you’d forget she was mute sometimes. She’d try to run away with Lance’s special towel, wrestle with Keith when they were bothering each other, and follow Hunk around wherever he went. Shiro switched between being the moderator, and joining in on the fun, depending on his mood. To Allura and Coran, the dynamic the kids had established was quite amusing. 

“Me too! I go!” Lance squealed, pulling on the hem of Allura’s dress. His towel was around his shoulders like a cape, and he was ‘protecting’ her from the evil Keith and Pidge. 

Allura frowned in thought. “Is that really the best idea…?” she questioned. 

“Yes!” Lance and Shiro said unanimously. Coran shrugged. 

“Well, I need to go for parts. We might as well let the little buggers run around and burn off some energy for a bit,” he brought up. Keith scowled at being referred to as a ‘little bugger’, even though he wasn’t entirely sure what that meant.

Allura smiled a bit as Shiro and Lance got Hunk to start cheering with them in favor of going to this ‘space mall’ place. “Alright,” she finally caved. “I guess it wouldn’t really hurt anyone.” 

“Yay, Lua!” Hunk cheered happily, wrapping his arms around her legs. He was easily the huggiest out of the group, unlike Lance, who was only clingy when he was tired or someone was getting more attention than he was. Then he turned into the perfect little angel. Allura smiled, ruffling his hair and looking around. Keith was poking at Rover, while Pidge was pulling lightly on the boy’s fluffy hair. Hunk had his eyes on Coran, and the castle controls. Lance was running around with his towel cape, showing Coran how far he could run without getting tired. They were being so well behaved now...the space mall should be no problem! 

******  
“Alright, let’s go over the rules one last time,” Allura said, standing in front of the kids, who were lined up shoulder to shoulder. “Lance?”

“No run off!” Lance proclaimed proudly.

“Good,” Allura smiled. “Hunk?” 

“Ask, no touch?” the boy guessed. Allura nodded. 

“Keith?”

“Be nice, no fighting,” he grumbled. 

“Lastly, Shiro?” 

“Keep an eye on you or Coran, and keep an eye on Pidge.” Shiro crossed his arms over his chest, with an authoritative look on his face. “And make sure everyone follows the rules.”

Allura chuckled. “Good job, Shiro. I trust all of you will follow these rules, or else you don’t get to come on any more adventures,” she warned. The kids nodded, and Allura took Pidge’s and Lance’s hands, and followed Coran into the space mall. 

Instantly, the five kids all wanted to go in different directions. Hunk smelled food, Pidge saw a kiosk with a bunch of little floating things around it, Lance saw a group of wildly different strange-looking people clustering around something, and Keith...well, Keith had already disappeared, Shiro chasing after him. Within a minute, Allura had lost all of them. Well, there goes the rules. She groaned, massaging her temples for a moment, before starting off to find them.

“Teeth! Get back here!” Shiro yelped, chasing after Keith as he weaved in between groups of people.   
“No call me that!” Keith shrieked. Shiro had taken to calling Keith ‘Teeth’ when he was upset with the younger boy. Keith hated this greatly, but he couldn’t even say Shiro’s name right, so he had no way of revenge. Finally, Keith found a way to lose Shiro, and ducked into a crowd. Shiro looked around wildly, but saw nothing, and Keith smirked. That’ll show him…

Meanwhile, Lance walked over to the group of people, and tugged on someone’s hand. “Hi!” he said cheerfully. “I’m Lance! You look diff...differ...end...diffrend than me! What you looking at?” his moter mouth was already running. It was clear that Lance wasn’t shy at all. The person who’d hand he’d pulled on, a Reiphod, looked down at him. 

“Aww,” she cooed, leaning down and picking the toddler up. The alien pointed to a screen, where it showed a few purple planets, and one blinking blue one. “You see,” she started to explain, “Galra have occupied all these planets, the ones in purple. But this blue one here, they just kicked the Galra out, and got their freedom back!” Lance looked at the Reiphod, confused. 

“What’s...Galla?” he asked curiously. The Reiphod’s eyes gleamed.

“They’re a horrible people, with teeth as sharp as knives, and heart’s as cold as empty space. They care for nothing but themselves, and their horrible leader,” she growled lowly. Lance’s eyes widened in fear. “They eat bones for breakfast, and drink blood for dinner…” 

Lance wiggled out of her grip, tears brimming in his eyes. He ran away, sobbing, and the Reiphod winced. Maybe he was too young to hear that…

******  
“Hewwo! Smells nummy!” Hunk complimented as he peeked over the edge of a counter, on his tiptoes. Whoever was cooking looked over, seeing him. 

“Thanks, where are you from, kid?” they asked, extending one hand to shake while the other three worked on preparing a meal.

Hunk thought for a moment. “Well, Shoe says Cocan found us here, and we came from Earth! Now, we live in a huge castle!” he said happily. 

The chef nodded, not really paying attention. “Well, want to try some of this, if you think it smells so good?” they extended a small little bag, with a few samples in it. Hunk’s eyes lit up. 

“Tank you!” he squealed, opening the bag and taking a bite of something. After a few moments, he melted a bit. “Nummy…” he mumbled.

The chef smiled. “No problem, kid. See you around,” they said with a small salute, getting back to work. Hunk waved wildly, before running off to find someone he knew.

As he was doing that, Pidge had been sitting under the kiosk she’d found, unnoticed, watching the owner mess around with different wires and devices he was putting in the little droids he was selling. Her light brown eyes were wide, and she stared intently at him, silently watching his every move. 

Keith had managed to keep away from Shiro, and was reaching into the fountain gathering up coins, and putting them in his pockets. Allura was getting some books, clothes, toys, and other things for the kids while she wandered around calling for them, having seen Coran after he was done parts shopping and telling him to do the same. 

As Keith walked around, coins jingling in his pockets, he saw Shiro again. Except...Shiro was huddled under a bench, crying. Keith frowned. Why was Shiro crying? Shiro never really cried, not like the rest of them did. Was he hurt? Keith approached, softly poking Shiro in the side. “Shoe…?” he asked cautiously. Shiron looked up, eyes wide, and flung his arms around Keith, who squeaked in indigation.

“Keith! You not lost!” Shiro’s voice was relieved, though his bottom lip was still trembling. Keith frowned. “I can’t find Coran...or Allura, or Hunk, or Lance, or Pidge!” Shiro cried out in distress. “And when I chased you, you dis...disappeared!” 

“I sowwey, Shoe…” Keith’s apology was actually genuine, he didn’t like seeing Shiro cry. Shiro picked himself up, wiping the tears off his cheek, and letting go of Keith. 

“It’s okay…” the older boy mumbled, standing up straight. “I found you...now we just gotta find everyone, so they do not leave without us,” he said bravely. Keith blinked. 

“Leave...with no us?” he asked quietly. Shiro shook his head. 

“Don’t worry, Teeth. We’ll find them before they do,” Shiro smiled at Keith. “I promise.” Keith nodded, and both boys looked around. The space mall was huge...and where they were looked just like where they came in, and where Keith had been before this, and every other part of the mall. This...was going to take awhile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it, I'll have part two out as soon as I can. On another note, do any of you think Pidge will ever talk? What do you think she'll say? Follow me @Kit__Kat__Kitty on Twitter for art and updates!


	6. The Space Mall (Part Two)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The last space mall chapter! (For now, at least.) Let them be reunited!

Allura found Lance first. He was near where they split up, huddling under a bench and sobbing quietly. The princess’s eyes widened, and she rushed over to him. “Lance. Lance, are you okay?” she asked, kneeling down and reaching her arms out. Lance looked up, and scrambled into them, hugging her tightly. 

“Lua, they real? The Galla?” Lance sniffled, burying his face into her shoulder. Allura frowned. 

“The Galra?” she corrected. Lance nodded. 

“They eat b-bones? D-Dink bwood?” Lance whimpered, hugging Allura tighter. Allura reached for Lance’s special towel where he’d dropped it, and gently laid it over his shoulders. 

“No, of course not,” she cooed, stifling her own hate of the Galra to comfort him. “Who told you that?” 

Lance pointed back to the screen, which still had a small crowd gathered around it. “Lady…” he said with a sniffle. Allura sighed, ruffling his hair lovingly. 

“You don’t need to be worrying about the Galra, Lance,” she soothed, rubbing his back. “Now, let’s go find where the others ran off to.” Lance just nodded, hugging her neck and looking over her shoulder, in case one of his friends were to appear. 

Meanwhile...“Hey, what’re ya doin’ down there?” A gruff voice sounded, and a hand yanked Pidge out of her hiding place, wrapping one of many arms around her waist and lifting her up. Pidge yelped, trying to get away, and whoever had her eyed her curiously. “Well, yer just a little thing…” the alien mused. Pidge looked at them curiously, and silently pointed to the droid they were working on. The alien followed her finger, picking it up. “Oh, this ain’t nothin’ but a toy, kid.” They tucked a few wires into place, shut the panel, and gently tossed it. The droid unfolded little metal wings, and did a few loops and spins before falling back into the alien’s hand. “See?” Pidge clapped, eyes wide with awe, and the alien chuckled. 

“Here, kid. Take it,” they offered, setting Pidge up on the counter and pressing the small toy into her hand. Pidge looked absolutely ecstatic, and looked at it curiously, poking at the slits where the wings came out of. The alien was amused by her antics, and since there was really no one else around, began to explain to her how everything in there worked. 

Suddenly…”PIDGE! There you are!” Coran raced over, scooping the child up in his arms. Pidge blinked innocently up at him. “Pidge, you can’t run off like that! Come on now,” he grumbled, walking off. Pidge waved to the nice alien over Coran’s shoulder, and they waved back with a small smile. 

Coran walked back to Allura. “Found little Green!” he said cheerfully. Allura put Lance down, and rested Pidge on her hip. 

“I’m still pretty sure she’d be Blue…” the princess mumbled, taking Lance’s hand. “Now, we still need to find Hunk, Shiro, and Keith…” 

“I here!” Hunk called, skipping over, the doggy bag still in his hand. “Look, look!” he said excitedly, holding it out for them to see. Allura sighed. 

“That’s very nice Hunk. Now come along, we must find Keith and Shiro.” She made Lance take Hunk’s hand, to prevent any more running away. 

“Keef gone?” Lance asked, eyes wide. Allura nodded. “We find them!” Lance promised.

******  
“We’re almost there, promise,” Shiro said earnestly, leading Keith around the mall. Keith frowned at him, rubbing his eyes. 

“You alweady said dat…” the younger boy mumbled, trodding along after Shiro. He was starting to get tired, and a bit scared, though he didn’t want to admit it. What if they really did leave without him and Shiro? What if he never saw any of them ever again, and became stranded at the space mall forever? Keith sniffled, not able to help a tear from slipping down his cheek. He quickly wiped it away, before Shiro noticed.

“I know, but I mean it now!” Shiro said happily. “Look!” he pointed into the crowd, where a tall figure with long white hair was visible. Keith’s eyes widened. 

“LURA!” he shrieked, taking off. He was still holding onto Shiro’s hand, so the older boy was also dragged along for the ride. Keith ran smack dab into the figure...who jumped away, looking down at them in disgust. It was not Allura...Keith stared up at the person. “You not Lura…” he said grumpily, kicking the person’s leg before stalking away. 

Shiro looked up with wide eyes. “Sorry!” he said quickly, before Keith dragged him away again. “Teeth, that’s mean…” he complained. Keith just shrugged, wanting to find Allura and Coran before they took the others and left without them. Shiro sighed, and they continued to wander the mall for what felt like hours. He was starting to wonder if Allura and Coran actually did give up on them.

“KEEF! SHOE!” Keith had no time to react before he was jumped on by Lance. “Keef! You not lost!” Lance said happily, taking Keith’s shock as an invitation to cuddle up with him. 

“Hey!” Keith protested, trying in vain to push him away. 

“Lance? Lance, where did you- oh, Keith, Shiro, we were so worried!” Allura cooed, running over to give Shiro a hug. Shiro looked solemn. 

“You didn’t go…?” he asked shakily. Allura shook her head.

“Of course not, Shiro. Why would we leave without you?” she asked, a bit amused.  
“Cuz we didn’t follow the rules…” Shiro admitted. Allura smiled.

“I still wouldn’t leave without you,” she promised, stroking his cheek. “Lance, get up now. Let Keith breathe,” she chuckled. Lance sighed, but did as told, and Keith jumped up the second Lance was off of him. 

“Now, Coran is waiting for us back at the castle. Let’s go home...we have some talking to do.” The kids shared a look as Allura spoke, and began to lead them out of the mall, and back home.

******  
“I hope you do realize that was a stupid thing to do, running off like that.” Allura said. The kids were sitting on one of the couches in the lounge, and Allura was sitting across from them. None of the kids were looking her in the eyes. 

“We’re weally sowwey, Lura…” Hunk said, looking like he was about to cry. He didn’t like it when they were upset with him. 

“Me too,” Lance added. “And Shoe, and Keef, and Pid.” Those three also nodded their heads in agreement to Lance’s statement. Allura sighed. 

“Thank you, you are forgiven. But you see now why we have rules, and why it’s important to follow them. We’re a team, okay? Teams work better with structure,” she said wisely, quoting something she remembered her father saying once. The kids nodded, and Allura was confident she’d gotten her point across. She smiled, pulling out a box she’d brought from the space mall. “Enough of that. Who wants presents?” She laughed as the kids’ eyes widened when they saw the stuff she’d bought for them at the space mall.

“ME!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing makes an ending happier than presents. :) 
> 
>  
> 
> { Psst...who remembers Shiro's secret promise to revisit the lions? ;) }


	7. Shiro and the Lions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I'm back. Shiro's gotten to the lions again! And Allura's beginning to truly think about baby paladins...

Wandering around the castle all alone was scary. Walking around the castle when most of the lights were off, and with no one else awake, was terrifying. However, Shiro was going to be brave, flashlight in hand, as he made his way back to the hanger. It had been awhile since he’d first gone to see the Lions. He, however, still remembered Black leaning down to him, and opening its mouth to let him in. Allura had wrongly assumed he’d forgotten all about the Lions in the hanger by now.

Shiro wandered down the hall, pointing his flashlight around. He’d been careful to make sure that everyone was asleep before he started on this adventure, but he was still cautious. Pidge had a habit of tagging along without anyone noticing, because she was so quiet. As Shiro made his way to the hanger, he kept watching out behind him. He kept wandering and wandering, until he caught eye of the blue lights from the hanger. He turned the flashlight off and ran to the lions.

Black sensed the presence of the small boy the second he stepped foot into the hanger. The lion watched as Shiro approached it cautiously. “Hi…” he said slowly, shining his flashlight up into the huge cat’s face. Black regarded the small creature with curiosity. She was warm to his boldness, but she could also sense that he was young and delicate. Humming, she carefully moved one paw to see how he would react. Shiro stepped back, but stayed in the hangar. Slowly, Black crouched down, allowing her body to give off a pale blue glow, enough so that Shiro could see around the hangar without the use of his flashlight. 

Shiro flicked the flashlight off. “Black...it’s me, Shiro. You remember?” he asked cautiously. In response, Black opened her mouth, allowing the child to wander into the cockpit. It was glowing a dim purple light, but other than that, all systems were off. Shiro’s eyes widened as he looked around, careful not to touch any buttons or such. He felt an urge to get into the seat, and did so, a harness automatically strapping around him to keep him in place. With that, Black rose up back to her sitting position. 

Shiro gasped at the sudden movement, clinging to the seat. “Woah!” he yelped, looking around wildly. Meanwhile…

Allura sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes. Pidge, who’d been sleeping in Allura’s room for the past few days due to an inability to sleep through the night, squirmed but didn’t open her eyes. Allura frowned, wondering what it was that could’ve woken her up. She had a strange feeling, so she got out of bed, careful not to wake Pidge. She grabbed a flashlight from the drawers beside her bed, and clicked it on, first going to check on the others. When she opened the door, she saw the boys sleeping peacefully. Lance, Keith, and Hunk were snuggled up together in a nest of blankets and pillows. Allura smiled at the sight, about to leave, when she remembered. Shiro! Allura checked the room over once again, but the oldest boy was nowhere to be found. Frowning, Allura gently closed the door and went out to go find him. Maybe he just got hungry, or wanted a drink of water? She headed for the kitchen first.

******

Shiro hummed, sitting contentedly in the pocket as images of constellations appeared on the cockpit screen, sometimes spinning or changing to make pictures of things he could recognize. Coran’s mustache, Rover, a lion’s face, and more. Black was enjoying this, showing him the pictures and hearing his soft gasps of delight each time the image changed. Suddenly, she was aware of something outside the hangar. “Shiro! Shiro, where have you gone off to?” Black suddenly dimmed the images, and shut off all exterior lights. Shiro didn’t even notice, really. But Black was beginning to get a little possessive of this tiny human. 

Allura was still wandering around the main levels when she remembered the lions, and Shiro’s curiosity towards them. “Oh, quiznak,” she cursed, changing directions and running for the hangar. Hopefully, Shiro had not been in there long enough to have gotten into any trouble. However, when Allura reached the hangar, everything was perfectly still. She searched around, but Shiro wasn’t in there, and all the lions sat as still and stoically as possible. She was about to give up, when she nearly tripped over something. Frowning, Allura picked it up, It was a flashlight, most likely belonging to the missing child. “Shiro! Shiro, come out now! This isn’t a game, I’m worried!” She called.

From his seat in the Black Lion, Shiro heard her call faintly. “Allura?” he questioned, tugging at his safety harness. However, it refused to budge. “Allura!” he yelled this time, struggling against the hold of the harness. Black refused to let go, a nature of protectiveness taking over. However, Allura did hear Shiro’s call. She looked up at the mighty Black Lion, and was able to see a faint purple glow if she squinted hard enough at it’s head. 

“Shiro, I’m coming!” she called, racing over to the Black Lion. “Open up,” she commanded. However, the Lion refused to budge. “Open up, I command you. You don’t get to have him.” Images of the horrible battles fought with the lions, and the final fall of Altea to Zarkon flooded her mind, and she banged a fist against the Lion’s paw. “Let him out, you don’t get to have him! Not yet…” If Coran was right, and these precious little children would grow up to fit the roles of the paladins, she wouldn’t let it happen without giving them the proper training, and making sure they were are strong as they possibly could be first. She certainly wouldn’t send children off. “Let him out, now!” Allura yelled. 

Black sensed the urgency in her voice, and Shiro’s increasing stress levels as she continued to yell. Reluctantly, she crouched back down, opening her mouth and allowing Shiro to tumble out into Allura’s arms. Allura scooped the child up, holding him close to her chest, and looked up at the Lion as it rose again to it’s sitting position. “You may have chosen him...but he is not yours. He is a child, not a soldier. Not yours, not yet.” Allura gently laid a hand on the lion’s paw, sighing. “The time will soon come,” she murmured. She then looked at Shiro, who had a sheepishly guilty look on his face. However, his eyes were shining from the adventure he had, and Allura couldn’t bring herself to scold him. “Shiro, what have I told you about this hangar?” she asked, her voice gentle and unaccusing. 

“Stay out of it…” Shiro mumbled, resting his head against Allura’s shoulder. Allura sighed.

“Yes, we stay out of here unless Coran or I am with you,” she reminded. “I sense you know that rule, and that’s why you snuck out here at night,” she chuckled. “Come, it is time to go back to bed. If you wish, I will tell you all about the lions in the morning. It seems as if the Black Lion has taken a particular liking to you, little one.” Allura glanced down, seeing bright black eyes shining back up at her. She smiled, carrying him out of the hangar. She took one last glance at the Black Lion, and couldn’t help as if feel that she was watching them carefully. Which meant she most likely was. Allura shut the door to the hangar behind them, and took Shiro back to bed, carefully laying him down besides the others. As she walked back to her own room, she couldn’t help but ponder the idea of the earthling children as paladins. She couldn’t bring herself to think of them as soldiers. Hunk was so sweet, Lance so bright, Keith so feisty, Pidge so small. Shiro was a good leader among the five, but she couldn’t imagine him with a bayard in his hands, in the place of a juice box. Allura gently picked up Pidge, cuddling the child to her chest as she laid back down in bed. She looked into Pidge’s innocent, gentle little smile she had as she slept. How could something so small and innocent ever become such a powerful soldier? 

Troubled, Allura laid back down, snuggling Pidge against her side. She let the thoughts consume her, until eventually, the steadiness of Pidge’s gentle snores lulled her back to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, what's up friends? I'm back, sorry for leaving this for so long. School and stuff got in the way. But hey, I have a discord server now, if you want to join that. That way, I can give constant updates, and you can bug me about adding to the fic(s) ;). So yeah, please join so I'm not just alone in there with MEE6 and Yui.   
> https://discord.gg/2mrMcMK


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